Show HN: Jargon-free financial advice via text

5 points by ksj2114 5 years ago | 2 comments

Hey all,

I created HelpElf after my sister just graduated from college this spring and started her first real job. She knew she should be saving and investing, but didn't know how to get started. Most of the articles and guides she tried to read on the Internet were for people who were already proficient in personal finance and investing and were confusing for her. And there's a TON of bad advice out there.

After helping her set up her 401(k), brokerage account, and monthly budget, I realized that she was looking for completely jargon-free answers to her questions, like: + How much should I invest every month? + What's the safest and easiest to use investing platform for me? + How much should I have saved before starting a family?

I worked for one of the largest financial institutions in the world and personal finance is something I'm passionate about, so I created HelpElf, which aims to bring financial advice to everyone. Just text us at 510-756-2522 and we'll answer your questions and work with you to safely grow your money.

Here's the link to the site: https://www.helpelf.xyz/

quickthrower2 5 years ago |

This does sound helpful, a bit like a text version of those financial advice columns in the newspaper?

However I feel for any kind of help or mentoring, the student should be willing to put in say 1 hour of time to understand the basics.

To that end I think a youtube video (s) from yourselves would be good to cover finance, interest, tax, investment and budgeting basics. Maybe haggling / salary negotiation / cost of living calcs? And then once they've invested some time to try and learn you'd get better questions.

Or to flip it maybe the videos are the answers to some common questions.

ksj2114 5 years ago |

Btw, for those asking via text - this isn't automated for now, every question goes to a human!